MLB Rumors: Could Padres trade Juan Soto in wake of disappointing season?
The San Diego Padres were three wins away from reaching the World Series last year. This offseason, they added former Boston Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts on a long-term contract. With that, the Padres had built their super team.
Instead, the Padres are 38-46 on the season as of the morning of July 3, sitting in fourth place in the NL West. The division is essentially a three-team race between the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants, and Arizona Diamondbacks. With this, San Diego could very well be a seller at the deadline. When looking at the roster, selling some of the top players would make sense. How about Juan Soto?
In his latest column for USA Today, Bob Nightengale writes that several MLB executives have told him that the Padres "would be foolish not to listen to trade offers this month" for Soto.
"The Padres say they have not discussed trading Soto, and have no intention to move him," writes Nightengale. "Yet, considering that Soto is a free agent after the 2024 season, will receive close to $30 million in his final year of arbitration, and there are no indications he'd be interested in signing a contract extension with the Padres, it would be negligent not to be open to trade talks.
"The Padres wouldn't command the same haul they gave up to the Nationals to acquire him a year ago, but they could certainly recoup a significant part of their investment, lower payroll in 2024, and restock their farm system in light of this year's disastrous season."
San Diego general manager A.J. Preller has a reputation for buying, whether at the deadline or free agency. Last year, he acquired Soto and first baseman Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals in exchange for shortstop C.J. Abrams, left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore, right-handed pitcher Jarlin Susana, outfielders Robert Hassell III and James Wood, and first baseman Luke Voit. It helped the Padres load up for their playoff run and gave them Soto, who is under team control until the end of the 2024 season.
This season, Soto recorded a .277 batting average, a .424 on-base percentage, a .502 slugging percentage, 15 home runs, 46 RBI, 46 runs scored, and 80 hits. Soto was selected to the All-Star Game, his first as a member of the Padres.
It will remain to be seen if the Padres will trade Soto not just at the deadline, but down the road.
MLB Rumors: Astros have one near-untouchable piece at MLB Trade Deadline
The Houston Astros are looking to repeat as World Series champions, but they no longer have the same, easy path to the postseason that they have once had in recent years. The Texas Rangers are one of the best-scoring teams in baseball, while the Los Angeles Angels are holding their own, keeping pace with the Astros for second place. Not to mention that they had to overcome missing Jose Altuve for the start of the season, and now wait for Yordan Alvarez to make a return down the road from a right oblique injury.
Houston is in a position to add at the Aug. 1 trade deadline. If they do, they would have to give up some prospects. As it turns out, there is one prospect the Astros have no desire of moving to a different team.
According to USA Today's Bob Nightengale, the Astros say they are "highly reluctant to move outfielder Drew Gilbert."
Gilbert is Houston's top overall prospect, whom they selected in the first round of last year's MLB Draft out of the University of Tennessee. In just two years, he's worked his way up to Double-A. Here is what MLB.com says about Gilbert's potential:
"Gilbert is extremely aggressive in all phases of the game, yet his superb hand-eye coordination enables him to repeatedly barrel balls and produce high exit velocities. His left-handed stroke can get long because he hunts home runs, and while he rarely strikes out, he does make more ground-ball contact than desired. He's not physical but does have enough bat speed and strength to provide 15-20 homers per season without selling out for power.
"Gilbert has solid-to-plus speed and uses it to steal and take extra bases. His quickness and instincts allow him to cover ground in center field, where he shows the plus arm strength that produced fastballs clocked up to 93 mph during infrequent college pitching appearances. A fiery competitor with a lot of emotion, he's destined to become a fan favorite but needs to play more under control at times."
This season, split between his time with the High-A Asheville Tourists and Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks, Gilbert recorded a .268 batting average, a .375 on-base percentage, a .443slugging percentage, nine home runs, 30 RBI, 45 runs scored, and 63 RBI in 63 games played.
Houston will look to add, but it sounds like they would need convincing to surrender Gilbert, per Nightengale.
MLB Rumors: Insider proposes blockbuster Dodgers-Cubs trade to save LA's season
The Los Angeles Dodgers are always expected to be in first place in the NL West. As of the morning of July 3, they sit in second place with a 46-37 record, behind the Arizona Diamondbacks, who are 50-35 on the year. This comes after an offseason in which the Dodgers didn't go with their usual approach of adding the biggest names available. Not to mention that their starting rotation was hammered with injuries, notably to Dustin May and Julio Urias.
Given the Dodgers are in a playoff position, they could look to add at the deadline.
Bleacher Report's Zachary Rhymer listed five trade ideas for the Dodgers at the Aug. 1 deadline. One trade idea involves the Chicago Cubs, which would see Los Angeles acquiring starting pitcher Marcus Stroman, third baseman Patrick Wisdom, and relief pitcher Michael Fulmer in exchange for catching prospect Dalton Rushing.
That certainly qualifies as a blockbuster trade idea.
Stroman is obviously the highlight of this speculated trade package. Stroman is in the second season of his three-year, $71 million contract with the Cubs. At the end of this season, he can opt out of his contract, making him a free agent. So far, Stroman recorded a 2.76 ERA, a 1.087 WHIP, a 9-6 win-loss record, 92 strikeouts, 37 walks, and one complete game in 107.2 innings (18 starts). He is looking for a contract extension with the Cubs, who are reportedly not interested in doing so before the trade deadline.
As for Rushing, he is the fourth-overall prospect in the Dodgers' farm system. He is actually the second-ranked catcher in the pipeline behind Diego Cartaya. This year, Rushing recorded a .269 batting average, a .430 on-base percentage, a .509 slugging percentage, eight home runs, 35 RBI, 36 runs scored, and 47 hits in 53 games.
The Cubs are not that far out of first place in what is a wide-open NL Central, and we should get a clearer picture as to what the team wants to do at the deadline once it gets close to that Aug. 1 date. If they choose to sell, Stroman would become a player that could generate a ton of interest from teams in need of starting pitching.